Apparently, insurance risk was an issue even way back in 1867, when the Sanborn Map Company began creating maps of cities and towns for insurance companies to use to assess fire risk.
Eventually, they would map every structure in over 12,000 communities in the U.S., with much of the work done at the company headquarters, built in 1905 right here in Pelham. There were also branches in Atlanta, Chicago and San Francisco.
Sanborn,now owned by EDR, Inc., still occupies a portion of the building, located at 629 Fifth Avenue. The remaining space is rented out as offices.
